ERP on Pfisterer Consulting

The Weaker System Won: What a 12-Week M&A Integration Teaches About ERP Selection

Mon, 18 May 2026 07:00:00 +0200

Friday 18:00. 80 employees log out of their old ERP. Monday 08:00. The same 80 log into the new one.

The new one is objectively weaker.

Context: M&A integration. In 2025, an international corporation acquired an 80-person Mittelstand firm from professional services. Requirement: all systems and data into the corporate IT estate. Over a single weekend. No business interruption.

The corporate ERP could do less than the one it replaced. Different cost accounting, different reports, two incompatible data models. It still had to run.

Mid-Market ERP 2026: Four Reports, One Uncomfortable Pattern

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0200

The CFO of a mechanical engineering firm from the Sauerland drops a stack of reports on the table. On top is the DSAG Investment Report, then the Trovarit user study, then a printed Bitkom chart. At the bottom lies an email from Microsoft about the new Dynamics 365 pricing. Across from him sits the IT lead with a green folder of proposals: SAP Private Edition, Dynamics 365 Business Central, plus a NetSuite pitch from last week. Four data sources, three ERP options, one question that only hangs quietly in the room: who reads these reports from the user’s perspective, rather than the vendor’s?

5 Modules That Don't Belong in Your ERP: Why Suite Thinking Ruins Your Procurement

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 18:15:00 +0100

Five departments sit at the table. Each one has a wish list. HR wants skill management. Sales needs lead scoring. Administration demands compliant document archiving. The project manager insists on Kanban boards. The quality manager wants audit management with CAPA tracking. All five wishes end up in the same document: the ERP requirements catalogue. All classified as knockout criteria.

The result is something I see in tender after tender: a catalogue with 177 criteria, 131 of them classified as A-criteria — mandatory knockout requirements. That’s 74 percent, far above any reasonable benchmark. What starts as structured procurement ends as a wish concert that no single system can serve.

AI as a Knockout Criterion in ERP Tenders: Why SMEs Are Getting It Wrong

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0100

It sounds like a forward-thinking decision: a mid-sized company adds AI-powered forecasting and intelligent automation as a hard knockout criterion to its ERP requirements specification. After all, the new system shouldn’t be outdated before it’s even implemented.

I see this regularly in tenders that cross my desk. And every time, I say the same thing: This is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make in ERP selection. This is a central aspect of my ERP consulting for SMEs.

Omnichannel Without Limits: Why Your ERP Becomes a Digital Team

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:15:00 +0000

Omnichannel is the gold standard: Instagram purchases, in-store pickup, chatbot-driven returns — all seamlessly connected. But in practice, many SMEs already struggle with the basics: a stable multichannel setup. Scale to Amazon, Kaufland, or TikTok Shop, and you’ll quickly discover: The problem isn’t demand — it’s the operational complexity behind the scenes. This topic is part of my ERP consulting for SMEs.

Commerce in 2026 doesn’t forgive rigidity. Marketplaces dictate the rules, algorithms change overnight, and customers expect the same availability across every channel. If you’re still managing this manually, you’re losing — not because your product is bad, but because your infrastructure can’t keep up.

Digitalization in Mid-Sized Companies: If You Can't Do Controlling, You Don't Need AI

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Nearly half of mid-sized companies don’t do their own controlling. No contribution margins per customer. No cost center analysis. No reliable margin per order. In the same breath, the next statistic – confirmed by Bitkom surveys: Nearly as many plan to deploy AI.

That’s not a contradiction. It’s a pattern — and I see it in almost every consulting project.

Companies skip stages 1, 2, and 3 of digitalization — and want to jump straight to stage 7. I offer this maturity assessment as part of my ERP consulting for SMEs.

AI in Mid-Sized Companies: Without ERP Integration, Your AI Assistant Is an Expensive Toy

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0100

22% of property managers already use AI. At the VDIV Forum Zukunft in March 2026, that sounded like progress. Until someone asked the decisive question: Can the AI phone assistant access tenant master data in the ERP system?

The answer: No. The assistant takes calls, formulates friendly responses — but knows neither contract terms nor account balances nor open tickets. It’s friendly, fast, and clueless.

This isn’t a property management problem. It’s a mid-market problem. These integration questions are exactly what I address in my AI and automation consulting for SMEs.

ERP Selection in Mid-Sized Companies: Why the Requirements Document Is the Most Expensive Mistake

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0100

The most thorough company I accompanied through an ERP selection chose the worst vendor. 200 pages of requirements. 6 months to write. 14 vendors contacted, 8 invited, 4 shortlisted. A process that any project management professor would have applauded.

The result: A system that perfectly fits the old processes — not the future ones. An implementation partner who impressed in the demo but was overwhelmed in execution. And a go-live that came 14 months later than planned.

Digitalization in Mid-Sized Companies: Why the IT Department Is the Wrong Project Leader

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0100

“IT handles the ERP project.” This sentence comes up in almost every mid-sized company when it’s about an ERP migration, DATEV automation, or CRM project. Sounds logical — it’s about software. So it’s an IT topic.

That’s exactly the mistake. ERP, CRM, DATEV integration — these aren’t IT projects. They’re organizational projects with a technical component. This understanding is a core part of my ERP consulting for SMEs. When IT leads, discussions revolve around interfaces instead of business processes. Servers instead of workflows. Licenses instead of value creation.

ERP Frustration in Mid-Sized Companies: Why a New System Won't Fix the Old Problem

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0100

“Our ERP is the problem.” I hear this sentence in almost every initial meeting. Too slow. Too complicated. Can’t do this. Does that wrong. The solution seems obvious: a new system. More modern, more powerful, better.

In 8 out of 10 cases, the truth is different – and this aligns with findings from the Standish Group, which has analyzed IT project failures for decades: The ERP isn’t the problem. The processes are. And a new system with the same processes delivers exactly the same result — just at a higher cost. This is a core focus of my ERP consulting for SMEs.

Data Quality in Mid-Sized Companies: Why Projects Fail in Preparation, Not Execution

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0100

“First we need to clean up the data, then we can start the project.” No sentence is more common in steering committees. And no sentence has delayed or quietly killed more projects.

The pattern is always the same — whether it’s an ERP migration, a DATEV integration project, a CRM campaign, or an AI pilot. It is a central theme in my ERP consulting for SMEs. Data quality becomes a precondition. Months are spent cleansing, harmonizing, structuring. Budgets flow. And the actual project never starts.

DATEV ERP: Why You Should Never Change Cost Centers Mid-Year

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0100

“We just created a new department — can we quickly adjust the cost centers?” This request comes up in almost every company at least once a year. Usually in April, when the new org structure is in place. Or in September, when a new project starts. The answer should always be the same: Not now. At year-end.

Why? Because DATEV handles cost centers differently than most users assume. These DATEV-ERP topics are a central part of my consulting on compliance and regulatory requirements. And the consequences of a mid-year change only become visible when it’s too late — in the management report, the cost center analysis, or the annual financial statements.

Cloud Exit for SMEs: Why Companies Are Bringing Their ERP Systems Back

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0100

For five years, the message was clear: if you don’t move to the cloud, you’ll be left behind. The Bitkom Cloud Monitor confirmed rising adoption numbers year after year. Analysts, consultants, software vendors – everyone preached the same direction. On-premise was the legacy model. Anyone still running SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or an industry-specific ERP on their own infrastructure was either brave or behind the times.

Now the mood is shifting. Not loudly, not on conference stages. But in the meeting rooms of IT leaders. The question is no longer “When do we move to the cloud?” – it’s: “Is it still worth it?” This strategic assessment is a core topic in my ERP consulting for SMEs.

One Year of Mandatory E-Invoicing: Why the B2B Standard Is Drowning in ZUGFeRD Chaos

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Note: This article covers the German e-invoicing mandate (E-Rechnungspflicht). The requirements are specific to companies operating in Germany.

Earlier this year, I published a summary of what SMEs need to know about mandatory e-invoicing. Reception mandate since January 2025, sending mandate from 2027, EN 16931 formats. Straightforward enough in theory.

Now, more than a year after the reception mandate took effect, it’s time for an honest assessment: The reality on the ground is catastrophic. E-invoicing is one of the most pressing topics in my consulting on compliance and regulatory requirements.

A2A Instead of B2B: When Your Buyer's AI Negotiates with the Supplier's AI

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0100

Monday Morning, 8:00 AM — and the Purchase Order Is Already Waiting

Imagine this: Your ERP system detects that a raw material is running low. Overnight, an AI agent contacts three supplier agents, compares offers on price, delivery time, and contract terms, and prepares a purchase order — ready for human approval when you arrive at your desk.

No phone calls. No email ping-pong. No manual spreadsheet comparisons. Just a clean recommendation backed by data.

ERP Migration: 5 Mistakes That Make Projects Fail

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0100

After over a decade of ERP projects, I keep seeing the same patterns. Technology is rarely the problem. Projects fail because of organization, expectations, and communication. These experiences form the foundation of my ERP consulting for SMEs.

Mistake 1: No Dedicated Project Manager on the Client Side

The ERP project is managed “on the side” by the IT director or CFO. Both already have a full-time job. The project gets whatever attention is left over — which is never enough.